Secrets in the Attic
by ObsidianGales
Summary: Three girls live in an attic in the middle of nowhere. The only reason they live there is because the beast in the attic lets them. But the attic holds much, much more. Secrets that will reap themselves and pick away at the girls. Secrets that might take away their lives. Humanstuck AU.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The huntress was crouched in the trees. Her red-orange hair blew gently in the breeze. Her blade was in hand, ready to strike down her prey. She watched as the deer grazed upon the grass.

The thing that was off about this predator was that her eyes were unfocused. They were trained anywhere except the nimble animal below her. Her eyes were grey and foggy behing the red eyelashes. The huntress was blind.

Blind, she was, but her sense of smell could compete with a bloodhound, her hearing rivaling an owl.

The deer wandered deeper into a clearing, not aware of the cruel fate to be.

The girl then leaped out of the tree, hurling towards the unsuspecting creature. She dove onto its back, feet first. A satisfying crack sounded in her ears. Once the deer was lying on the ground, she got it into a headlock before it could fight back. Thrusting its neck away from the body, she inserted her blade into the deer's chest, slicing it down into the stomach.

A few meters away, another huntress was dashing to the site of the murder. She could smell the blood, now only a few feet separating her and her partner. It seems as though the blind girl had caught the prey before the other had a chance to find any.

She came to the sight of her redheaded friend trying to haul the bloody, small dear onto her back. She chuckled. Even though the blind girl was tall and lean, she didn't exactly carry as much muscle strenght as the shorter girl.

At the sound of the laugh, the blind huntress turned her head towards the source of the sound. She sniffed the air, and a pointy toothed grin broke onto her face. "Hello, Nepeta, mind giving me a hand?"

"Of course I'll help you!" said Nepeta, beaming. She rolled her r's, creating a purring sound. The short, yet well-built girl grabbed the small female deer's front hooves. She manuevered to crouch under it, turned, then stood so it rested on her shoulders.

It wasn't very heavy. It might not have even been an adult. Although Nepeta's strength, one human couldn't pick up an adult deer on their shoulders.

"Let's go, Terezi," she said. Terezi poked her blade on the ground like a cane. Yes, she could easily sniff her way around, but the blade helped with her balance. Besides, she didn't want to trip or anything.

The trip back home was long, but the two had trekked this route before many times.

A fog began to coat the ground. Terezi stopped. The mist of the fog was confusing her sense of smell. Sometimes the forest got foggy, and would confuse her like it did now. Once, she got lost for a day, and Nepeta and their other friend had to find her.

Terezi felt someone grab her free hand and squeeze it. Nepeta was close enough for Terezi to get a clear scent of her. The blind girl always thought her cat-like companion had a nice scent. It was a blend of jasmine and pine. The pine was energetic and kept Terezi going through the day, but yet the jasmine was relaxing and assuring when everything went wrong.

As the taller huntress was lost in thought, they began to emerge out of the fog.

The two stood before a large German styled mansion with a large garden surrounding its perimeters. The exterior of the mansion was built out of basalt stone. The interior was made and panelled with ebony wood.

"Aradia!" Nepeta smiled to the girl in the garden. She had long mahogany hair that cascaded down to her hips. Her thin pale arm reached out to tend to a dying plant. The girl smiled sickly at the thought of death. However, the others would get mad if she let it die, so she watered it anyways.

Aradia turned to her friends and waved, her small smile turning into a full grin at the sight of the corpse on Nepeta's shoulders. She loved dead things. And no, it wasn't weird.

The mahogany haired girl rushed to open the door to allow her feline and blind friend inside. After all, Nepeta was carrying such a gorgeous piece of art, so why not be polite?

The three began to ascend the spiral stair case, up to the third floor. They had do perform a ritual they had done many times before.

The third floor was used like an attic, since the mansion had no storage room besides various closets. Among the forgotten or unuseful items was a secret the girls had kept for as long as they remember.

Crawling out of the shadows was a large, and hungry, beast. It had the basic form of a large cat with two mouths. Dragon wings rested on its back, albeit too small to fly. Ram horns curled out of its head.

Nepeta flung the small deer over her head. It landed with a thud in front of the beast.

The beast sniffed at it, then tore its stomach open with it's two maws. It ate like a wild wolf, tearing flesh and slurping it down its throat.

Terezi made a sickened face at the sound. Nepeta was indifferent, although she knew much of the herbivore would go to waste. Aradia had a look of pure pleasure on her face as she watched with gusto.

With blood splattered on the floor, Aradia hurried off to get a mop.

Of course it made a mess, and they might have been a little tired of the whole routine, but they didn't have a choice. Sacrifice or be eaten. The three knew close to nothing of the outside world, apart from buying and selling at the market. That's how they got neccessities. But it wasn't like they could buy a house or anything. That process was too confusing.

On their way downstairs for dinner, Nepeta spoke up.

"Y'know, we're running out of food again. We should go to the market again. We need a little more than the basic foods of our garden. Plus I'm dying to get some camomile tea," she added. Ever since the group went to the market a few months back and boughten the tea leaves, Nepeta instantly fell in love. 'Just add a splash of milk and it's purrfect!' is what she had said.

They all agreed as dinner had gotten started. Just simple sandwiches, was all.

After they ate, they went outside to bathe in their Japanese bath. Technically, it was a hotspring that they had built an enclosure, but Aradia had insisted, since she wanted to go to Japan. After several water fights, they got out, discussing things to bring on their road trip tomorrow.

They decided to bring a few fruits for snacks, and also a three large backpacks to keep their goods in. They were going to sell some vegetables for money. They've done so before at the market.

The girls went to bed early that night. They'd have to save their energy. The walk to the bus was fairly long, about 45 minutes, give or take. The ride to town was even longer. The least amount of time it would take would probably be two hours. To say it simply; the three lived far from the town.

The lioness, the blind girl, and the morbid girl fell asleep quickly.

They slept a dreamless night.

All but one.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter two_

_After coming back from a hunting trip, the beast sauntered back to its home. Deer in mouth, it made its way through the thick brush and trees. _

_With home in sight, the creature saw a strange sight. Three forms stood before the giant obsidian gate that ran around the perimeter of its lair: a mansion. _

_The trio were all small, children, none older than seven. The tallest had copper red hair and wore a simple black t-shirt and jeans. The one of middle height had long locks of burgundy brown hair. She was dressed in a black t-shirt and a long grey skirt. The shortest had short auburn hair with an indigo cat eared beanie resting on her wild hair. An olive coat was pulled over a black shirt and pants. _

_The beast approached them cautiously, uncertain if it would scare the children or not. _

_When the three girls heard footsteps approaching, they turned to face the creature looming above. _

_Oddly, none of them showed any sign of fear of the animal. The smallest took a few small steps up to it and placed a hand on the monster's rugged muzzle. She peered up with olive green eyes. "Kitty?" She asked in a tiny, innocent voice. _

_The tallest stepped up beside the other. "It's a dragon," she corrected in a somewhat nasally voice as the third suggested a ram. _

_Tilting its head to the side, the beast watched in interest as the girls discussed just what exactly what animal it might be. _

_The burgundy haired girl looked up at the monster and decided an introduction was in order. "I'm Aradia, and this I Nepeta and Terezi."_

_"We came to see whoever lived here... We're orphans and need a place to live..." Nepeta said. She reached for Terezi's and Aradia's hands, squeezing them with hope. _

_The beast looked into their hues of red, green, and blue._

_From that moment, it knew that these girls were something special._


End file.
